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Wednesday, August 13, 2014

What to Write ~ Fruit of the Spirit

I see child sponsorship as a very practical way to carry out the Great Commission - to go and make disciples - and letter writing provides a wonderful way to teach and disciple these young ones.

This month I decided to write about the Fruit of the Spirit - to introduce them as a whole - and to encourage my sponsored children to memorize Galations 5: 22-23

This topic could easily be spread out into a series with each letter focusing on a different fruit of the Spirit.

Dear....

How are you? It is with great joy that I write you this letter. My girls were listening to one of their favorite songs called "Fruit of the Spirit" and I decided I would share some of my thoughts about this teaching in the Bible.

Do you like fruit? I do. I think it's nature's candy because it's naturally sweet and delicious. We live in a part of our country where several kinds of fruit grow in abundance - apples, pears, grapes, and different berries. I don't know if I have a favorite fruit, but I really love pineapple and mango, neither of which grow locally. Do you have a favorite fruit?

The fruit that the Bible talks about is a bit different than the fruit we can eat. In the book of Matthew Jesus is teaching the crowds about good fruit and bad fruit - how a good tree will produce good fruit and a bad tree will produce bad fruit. We are the trees and our actions and thoughts are the fruit. If we are following Christ and filled with the Holy Spirit, we will produce the fruits of the Spirit.

If we are following God and doing His will, others should see love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control in our lives. Just as if we look at a fruit tree, we will know what kind of tree it is by the fruit it is producing. When others look at our lives, they should know we are followers of Christ by the "fruit" we are producing with our actions and thoughts.

I'll talk more about each individual fruit in future letters, but for now I'd like to challenge you to memorize Galations 5:22-23 and pray that God would produce these fruits in your life.

Praying for you always....

Have you written to your children yet this month? If so, what did YOU write about?